CD reviews for Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood's powerful voice has been her calling card throughout her career, and that is no different on her latest. She has always possessed a voice that can be chameleon-like and work with the material at hand.
Underwood does that again on these 13 songs, 6 of which she helped pen. Underwood knows a thing or two about writing or finding material that fits her commercial orientation as almost all 13 could conceivably be picked as singles. They are big sounding, big voiced and radio ready. »»»

Greatest hits albums are often derided as creative placeholders, or worse yet, contractual obligations. In Carrie Underwood's case, the album subtitled "Decade #1" is a chance to take a somewhat awe inspired look at what a successful career this American Idol alumnus has already had to date.
One of its two new songs, the single "Something in the Water," is a wonderfully gutsy move on Underwood's part. Country is one of the rare genres where a Christian can sing of »»»

Carrie Underwood's calling card remains intact - her ultra strong set of pipes. "Blown Away" is almost a tale of two CDs. The first half or so tends to be far more pop oriented and at times rocks, while the other half veers far more towards country and even gets traditional on a song or two.
The lead-off hit first single, Good Girl, rocks far more than anything else. It sounds good, catchy, but with Underwood singing hard, the song is geared for arena rock, not anything remotely »»»

Editorial: Walking the talk –
When names like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Waylon and the Hag are invoked, you're talking hard core country. These are the touchstones of country , the guys who made country music what it was and still is (or maybe can be). When these folks would sing about being down-and-out and the rough-and-tumble, they knew of what they were singing about. Fast forward a few years to the country singers of today. »»»

Concert Review: Outlaw likes it hot –
Sam Outlaw noted a few times how hot it was inside the small club with about 50 people cramming in near the stage. Outlaw was talking about the warmth of the venue, but he could just as well - he would have had to have been egotistical, of course - have been talking about the quality of his music as well.
Once again, the traditionally-based west coast... »»»

Concert Review: AmericanaFest stays ahead of the curve –
If the Americana Festival and Conference proves anything, it's that anything and everything born of genuine roots can be classified as Americana. It doesn't matter whether it originates from the heartland, the swamps of the south, the outer reaches of California, the mountains of Appalachia, or as far afield as the Australian outback and the... »»»

William Shakespeare noted a few centuries back that a rose by any other
name would be equally aromatic, and that general idea has musical
implications as well. The Cadillac Three knows a thing or two about maintaining
a sonic identity after a name change;... »»»

Those aware of the late Owsley "Bear" Stanley likely know him for one of two reasons - his pioneering work manufacturing lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in San Francisco during the mid-to-late 1960s and his role as an innovative sound engineer. Most notably, Bear worked...... »»»

Headed into 2015, Imelda May was on a hit streak. Her rockabilly career was in full swing, nurtured by the likes of former Squeeze keyboardist Jools Holland and guitar icon Jeff Beck. Her albums routinely topped the charts in her native Ireland.... »»»

When last we visited a new album from Steve Martin & the Steep Canyon Rangers, 2011's "Rare Bird Alert," we found a cohesive, focused collection of bluegrass; it was an expansive, artistic creation that only benefited the bluegrass community. A subsequent live album (strikingly entitled "Live") presented a continued refinement of this pairing's chemistry. »»»

With all the memorable music Chris Hillman created with The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers and Desert Rose Band, he has nothing left to prove. He's a both a bona fide rock and country icon. Tom Petty, who owes an obvious debt to Hillman's...
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Billy Strings. It takes a lot of nerve to adopt such a nom de plume (in this case nom de guerre might be more appropriate) in the bluegrass world, but Billy Strings is up to the challenge, and more. Strings (real name William Apostol) grew up in Michigan, surrounded by musicians. »»»